English Dub Review: Hana-Kimi “How Did You Know?!”

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Overview:

An unexpected visitor arrives before the school trip, turning Mizuki’s daily life upside down.

Our Take(Spoilers):

Maybe, and this is a HUGE maybe, but maybe this show will get good. Nakatsu going all in on his crush of Mizuki could be just the thing this show needs to be good, especially with the introduction of Mizuki’s friend, Julia, who is a transfer student from America. To gauge how Sano might feel about Mizuki, she pretends to be Mizuki’s lover. This obviously upsets Nakatsu, and honestly, if it wasn’t for Nanba being into Julia, I would predict an enemies-to-lovers situation with Julia and Nakatsu.

Julia is voiced by Jaclyn Thomas, and I learned from her Behind the Voice Actors page that she voiced a few characters I enjoyed in the last couple of years. The main standouts for me were Urza from New Saga and Ameku from Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective. If that is anything to go by, then I hope that Julia is a mainstay character not only for how she injects intrigue into the narrative, but also because her VA is an awesome up-and-comer.

I might have been wrong about what type of show this is. I was under the impression that this was a reverse harem, but it’s starting to look like only Sano and Nakatsu have any real interest in Mizuki. I’m not necessarily a fan of love triangles, but if this means that we might have a chance for some more side couples, then I’ll accept it over the harem route.

Sano has some sort of past issue with his father that we’re not privy to yet. For the upcoming school trip, they’re going to Hokkaido, which is where he’s from. Since they’ll be near his hometown, his mother calls because his father is in the hospital for some reason. Sano not only refuses to go, but he says he doesn’t think of that man as his father anymore. I know juicy family drama when I hear it, and I hope we get the full story coming up.

I don’t know how Mizuki doesn’t have any idea that Sano might have feelings for her. The only time he looks legitimately happy is when he’s with her. Not only that, but they watch movies together in his bed and often fall asleep together. With Nakatsu developing feelings for Mizuki despite being a “guy,” I don’t see why she can’t see that Sano might do the same.